Common Oil Leaks? - Honda Prelude Forum

vansnxtweek · 09-08-2009, 08:28 AM

So I have been losing a little bit of oil. I am not sure how much is normal but I have added about 2.5 quarts in 3000 miles. I just recently got the car with a broken timing belt so I took off the head and put in all new valves. Hopefully I am not burning any oil..

I searched and found that these cars are known for distributor o-rings leaking and also the oil cooler o-ring. But what are some other places to look? I have checked the valve cover of course as well as other things.. but I am just not finding much oil. The only thing that I wonder about is my oil pan gasket always looks moist..but never really leaking. There is never oil on the floor. I wouldn't be so worried but my oil light blinks everyonce in awhile and I am trying to get to the bottom of why.

Thanks for the help.

minilogoguy18 · 09-09-2009, 09:23 AM

Cam seals are very common, check those.

ArmaanOG · 09-09-2009, 10:19 AM

rear main and oil pan

vansnxtweek · 09-10-2009, 08:31 PM

Thank ya'll for the responses..I was starting to wonder if I did something to piss people off around here or something lol.

Would the oil pan be like a running down kind of leak? The gasket always looks moist but I can't seem to ever see it like running down. Is the rear main seal the seal between the motor and tranny?

G_Loc · 09-10-2009, 09:06 PM

Pan leak just kinda seeps since there's no built up oil pressure there

Rear main is between engine and tranny like you said. If you're going to replace it, might as well do the clutch too as it is a bear to get to:

Have you noticed any blue smoke coming out of the tailpipe?

ludestarbai · 09-23-2009, 03:11 PM

damn h23 leaks everywhere... it cost me a pretty penny to get them all corrected... that was when i was too dumb to figure out/work on them myself.

vansnxtweek · 09-25-2009, 07:55 AM

Good lord the rear main is just that small seal at the bottom? I have never seen the inside of a tranny like that haha. Thanks for the picture! I changed the pan gasket a few days ago. I wasn't going to do it but then I got under the car again and the pan was just pretty much lightly covered so I at least figured it would be a good place to start. I tightened it back up to 9 ft. lbs as the book said but that seemed like a lot..still did it though. But as far as blue smoke..no thankfully not! Black everyonce in awhile..which rich is okay but no blue smoke.

I have checked the oil cooler and the cam seal they seem okay. The distributor o-ring might also drip a tad but nothing substantial. It's a mystery! lol

G_Loc · 09-25-2009, 08:07 AM

Rear main seal is the big one around where the crank sticks out of the block (circle with 8 small holes). That's actually a picture of the engine with the tranny, clutch, and flywheel removed.

Matta1 · 10-13-2009, 04:11 PM

Okay, I can might help you on locating the oil leak(s), as I have a '92 H23 Prelude myself.
There were a lot of oil leaks on mine as well when I bought it, but I have hopefully covered up all of the leaks.
Since you're saying the oil light turns on every once in a while, makes me think it could be the oil pressure switch. It's a common oil leak that is difficult to locate. It's a small device with one wire running to it, almost right next to the oil filter.
Or did the light go on because you were low on oil?
Have you checked the oil filter o-ring?
Also, what is the highest point on the engine where you can see oil?

If there's oil on the intake/exhaust manifold, it's most certainly the valve cover gasket. It might look alright, but if it's hardened, it's most likely to leak.
If there's oil on top of the tranny, it's most likely the cam seal that's leaking. Hard to spot, as it's only dripping a few drops every once in a while. If you have the OEM cam seal, you should just replace it anyway, as the OEM seal is just a "rubber" plug that's stuck in there. Buy one with o-rings.

It's very rare that the oil pan gasket is the cause of an oil leak.

If the oil leak is internal, it might be the o-ring for the oil pump. This can cause low oil pressure, and the light will go on.

Some of these oil leaks I had myself, and all were very difficult to locate.
Hope it helped